Wild Mountain Thyme: Starry Misfire from Oscar Winner Marred by Silliness, Bad Accents
By Linda Barnard
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Review, PreviewJim SlotekWild Mountain Thyme, John Patrick Shanley, Emily Blunt, Jon Hamm, Jamie Dornan, Christopher Walken, Irish films, Drama, Rural setting, Adaptation
Monster Hunter: Video Game Adaptation Is Tons of Fun and Raised (Of Course) by Milla Jovovich
Review, PreviewJim SlotekMonster Hunter, Video game movies, Milla Jovovich, Paul W.S. Anderson, Action, Adventure, Monsters, Tony Jaa, Female Leads, Female action movies, Female action heroes
The Midnight Sky: Muddled George Clooney Space Actioner Never Achieves Liftoff
Review, PreviewJim SlotekThe Midnight Sky, Adaptation, Space drama, George Clooney, Felicity Jones, Kyle Chandler, David Oyelowo, Mark L. Smith, Caoilinn Springall
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom: Rumours of Chadwick Boseman's superb final act are bittersweetly true
By Karen Gordon
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ReviewJim SlotekMa Rainey’s Black Bottom, Plays by August Wilson, Actors' final performances, Chadwick Boseman, Viola Davis, Movies about blues legends, Mother of the Blues, Colman Domingo, Glynn Turman, Michael Potts, Pittsburgh Cycle, Denzel Washington, Fences, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, George C. Wolfe
Another Round: Thomas Vinterberg and Mads Mikkelsen ask the darkly comic question, 'Do I think better when I drink?'
ReviewJim SlotekDanish director Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round, Mads Mikkelsen, The Hunt, Dark comedy drama about alcohol, Finn Skårderud, Magnus Millang, Lars Ranthe, Thomas Bo Larsen, Maria Bonnevie, Magnus Sjørup, Theory about alcohol and creativity
Let Them All Talk: Streep, Bergen and Wiest rehash the past aboard ship in Soderbergh's deceptively breezy film
By Karen Gordon
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ReviewJim SlotekSteven Soderbergh, Let Them All Talk, Old friends with old grudges, Meryl Streep, Gemma Chan, Movies that take place aboard cruise ships, Queen Mary 2, Lucas Hedges, Candice Bergen, Dianne Wiest, Deborah Eisenberg
The Forbidden Reel: Award-Winning Doc Explores Film’s Starring Role in Afghan Culture
Review, PreviewJim SlotekThe Forbidden Reel, NFB Documentary, National Film Board, Ariel Nasr, Hot Docs Festival, Afghanistan, Rogers Audience Choice, Kabul, Afghanistan Documentary, cultural preservation
The Prom: Star-studded adaptation of an LGBTQ-themed Broadway hit bounces from laid-on-thick to thin
ReviewJim SlotekRyan Murphy, Glee, Hollywood, The Prom, Netflix adaptation of a Broadway musical, Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden, Andrew Rannells, Kerry Washington, Jo Ellen Pellman, Ariana DeBose, Keegan-Michael Key, Same-sex prom date controversies, Bob Martin, The Drowsy Chaperone
Wander Darkly: Sienna Miller and Diego Luna in a near-death experience, and an emotional journey without a false note
By Karen Gordon
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Queer Japan: Doc on Japan’s Meek Acceptance of LGBTQ Culture a Delightful Rallying Cry
But I’m A Cheerleader: Director’s Cut of Cult Comedy Still Campy If Dated on Gay Themes
Review, PreviewJim SlotekBut I'm A Cheerleader, Natasha Lyonne, Clea DuVall, Jamie Babbit, Julie Delpy, Michelle Williams, RuPaul, Movies about gay teens, Comedy, Camp classics, Cult Classic, Lesbians, Christian Gay Conversion Therapy, Bud Cort, Mink Stole
The Legend of Baron To’a: Fun Kiwi Dramedy-Slash-Throwdown Offers Blood-Free Charms
Review, PreviewJim SlotekThe Legend of Baron To’a, Dramedy, Comedy, Wrestling, Kiel McNaughton, indigenous films, imagineNATIVE, Uli Latukefu, Nathaniel Lees, John Tui
Billie: Doc on Jazz Great Billie Holiday Elevated by Newly Unearthed Audio Archive
Funny Boy: Canuck Oscar Contender Charts Gay Coming-of-Age Story, Sri Lankan-Style
Review, PreviewJim SlotekAva Duvernay, Deepa Mehta, CBC, Oscar contender, Funnt Boy, Gay themes, Canadian, Sri Lankan, Shyam Selvadurai, adaptation, Alice Munro, Civil War, Sri Lankan civil war
Rocks: Lovely, Affecting Drama Captures Silliness and Sorrow of Teen at a Crossroads
Review, PreviewJim SlotekRocks, TIFF 2019, Sarah Gavron, Bukky Bakray, D’angelou Osei Kissiedu, Kosar Ali, Teenage story, Coming of age, London
Black Bear: Aubrey Plaza plays with our heads in the woods, and uses her deadpan to best effect in intriguingly weird film
ReviewJim SlotekBlack Bear, Aubrey Plaza, Surreality, Lawrence Michael Levine, Ambiguity in film plots, Christopher Abbott, Sarah Gadon, Movies set in the woods, Movies about movies, Robert Leitzell
Stardust: Imagined David Bowie Adventure Lacks Imagination and Adventure
Happiest Season: Heart-lukewarming LGBTQ themed Christmas movie is the cinematic equivalent of gifted socks
ReviewJim SlotekLGBTQ themed Christmas Movies, Happiest Season, Writer/director Clea DuVall, The Christmas House, 12 Dates of Christmas, A New York Christmas Wedding, Kristen Stewart, Dan Levy, Mackenzie Davis, Mary Steenburgen, Victor Garber, Alison Brie, Mary Holland, Aubrey Plaza
Fear of Dancing: Intriguing doc about why some (like Stephen Fry) are chronically unable to get down with their bad selves
The COVID Cruise: How a repeat plague ship, The Diamond Princess, became the ultimate COVID super spreader
ReviewJim SlotekCOVID-19, Disease outbreaks on cruise ships, The Diamond Princess, Yokohama, Captain Gennaro Arma, Mike Downie and David Wells, Gay Courter, Spencer Fehrenbacher, Ya Tsan, SeaDream 1
